Warped Tour/ Mayhem Fest Founder Says the Current Spate of Pandemic Shows “Sets the Whole Business Back”
Even if you’re a heartless POS who doesn’t care about the lives of other human beings, there’s still a very good reason to do your part to curb the spread of COVID-19: the sooner this shit goes away, the sooner we can all go back out into the world and start having fun again.
That’s what makes the recent spate of metal shows so frustrating… almost none of them appear to have done very much, if anything at all, to combat the virus’ ability to tear through the crowd. The result is that not only are people going to get sick and die, but the amount of time it takes for the world to get back to something resembling “normal” is only going to get longer. The bands, the promoters, the fans participating in these shows — they’re all selfish and short-sighted. Like, I hope whatever Great White and Fozzy were paid for those one-off performances will cover the next two years of not being able to tour.
But don’t take it from me… take it from Kevin Lyman, the event mega-producer responsible for the Vans Warped Tour and The Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival (among other notable tours).
Lyman has reacted to the news that thousands of fans recently turned out to see Smash Mouth (kill me) play a biker festival (please kill me) in South Dakota (kill me now), at which absolutely zero precautions were taken to keep people safe from the coronavirus:
Lyman’s response?
“This is one more reason we will not see shows in the near future, or any future if it keeps happening. Sets the whole business back every time it does. Every time this happens it messes it up for those who want to do it right.”
Now, I know some of you are conspiracy theorists who think the virus is a hoax or whatever, but tell me… why would Kevin Lyman fight AGAINST putting on shows right now when that’s how he makes his living? Do you think George Soros is paying him to act against his own financial best interests or something? Or is it possible that maybe… just MAYBE… Lyman actually knows what the fuck he’s talking about?
It’s a thinker, I know. It’s okay, take your time.
[via Metal Injection]
